Connecticut gun-maker declares intention to leave state NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut gun-maker announced on Wednesday it intends to leave the state, just six days after passage of restrictive gun control legislation, while two other manufacturers said they are considering relocation offers from other states. Manufacturers also plan to lobby the state’s congressional delegation next week “to make sure they hear from our side,” said Mark Malkowski, president of Stag Arms in New Britain. Br...

Senate plan to stiffen border security WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators finalizing a landmark immigration bill has agreed to require greatly increased surveillance of the border and apprehensions of people trying to cross it, a person familiar with the proposals said Wednesday. The legislation, to be released within days, would call for surveillance of 100 percent of the U.S. border with Mexico and apprehension of 90 percent of people trying to cross in certain high...

Mayflower Oil pipeline gash 22 feet long LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says an ExxonMobil pipeline that burst last month, leaking oil into a neighborhood at Mayflower, has a hole in it that is 22 feet long and 2 inches wide. McDaniel said his office received 12,500 pages of documents from the company regarding the spill Wednesday, shortly before a news conference. State lawyers are reviewing ExxonMobil's documents. The attorney general had issued ...

Darr says Senate run in '14 unlikely LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mark Darr says he's unlikely to seek the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor next year. Darr told The Associated Press on Wednesday he's leaning against challenging Pryor, but hasn't made a final decision. Darr said he's still eyeing a run for Congress or a re-election bid next year. Darr said he believed there would be a stronger candidate to challenge Pryor, but declined to say w...

Lawmakers approve sale of unpasteurized milk LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would allow farmers to sell unpasteurized milk. By a 19-11 vote, the Senate approved a bill permitting the sale of "raw" milk from cows and goats at the farms where it's produced. Farmers would be allowed to sell up to 500 gallons per month on average. The House had approved the bill on Saturday. Supporters of the legislation say the government shouldn't restr...

Lone Democratic senator opposes gay marriage LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Sen. Mark Pryor, the lone Democrat in Arkansas' congressional delegation, said Wednesday he remains opposed to gay marriage, even as Democratic senators from other conservative states have joined the growing chorus of lawmakers who support it. "I oppose same-sex marriage, and I've been very clear about that and been that way for a long time," Pryor told reporters during a conference call Wednesday. Pryor's stance makes...

Senate panel rejects immigrant tuition bill LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A state Senate committee deadlocked Wednesday on a proposal aimed at allowing Arkansas colleges and universities to extend in-state tuition rates to some immigrants who came to the country as children illegally. With a 3-3 vote, the Senate Education Committee failed to pass the proposal, which would have allowed individual schools to set their own criteria at the cheaper, in-state rate. The measure needed at least five...

Senate showdown vote on gun curbs set for Thursday WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat has set Congress’ first showdown vote for Thursday on President Barack Obama’s gun control drive as a small but mounting number of Republicans appear willing to buck a conservative effort to prevent debate from even beginning. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced his decision Tuesday as the White House, congressional Democrats and relatives of the victims of December’s mass shooting in Newt...

Admiral says US ready if North Korea strikes WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. defenses could intercept a ballistic missile launched by North Korea if it decides to strike, the top American military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday, as the relationship between the West and the communist government hit its lowest ebb since the end of the Korean War. Amid increasingly combative rhetoric from Pyongyang, Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear...

Federal budget cuts ground Air Force aircraft NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A third of the U.S. Air Force’s active-duty force of combat planes including fighters and bombers will be grounded due to federal budget cuts, and only the units preparing to deploy to major operations, such as the war in Afghanistan, will remain mission-ready, a top general said Tuesday. Other units would stand down on a rotating basis, said Gen. Mike Hostage, commander of Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in...

US companies are posting more jobs but filling few WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers have more job openings than at any other time in nearly five years. That’s in part because they seem in no hurry to fill them. And it helps explain why the job market remains tight and unemployment high. Even as openings have surged 11 percent in the past year, the number of people hired each month has declined. Why so many openings yet so few hires? Economists point to several factors: Some unemployed workers ...

Tentative farm workers deal in immigration talks WASHINGTON (AP) — A tentative deal has been reached between agriculture workers and growers, a key senator said Tuesday, smoothing the way for a landmark immigration bill to be released within a week. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who’s taken the lead on negotiating a resolution to the agriculture issue, didn’t provide details, and said growers had yet to sign off on the agreement. The farm workers union has been at odds with the agricultur...

House approves steel mill project LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas House lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly approved Gov. Mike Beebe's proposal to provide $125 million in state financing for the construction of a steel mill in the northeast corner of the state. Lawmakers passed a Senate-backed bill authorizing Arkansas to issue bonds to provide a loan and pay some construction costs of a $1.1 billion steel facility in Osceola. The legislation now heads to the governor's desk,...

Senate OKs unemployment drug testing bill LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Arkansas Senate has approved legislation that would subject some of the 85,000 Arkansas residents receiving unemployment benefits to random drug testing. By a 25-5 vote, the Senate on Monday passed a proposal by Republican Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson of Benton that would require unemployment recipients to agree to submit to random drug testing. Hutchinson has said the testing would cost the state less than $30,000 a yea...

Dropouts: Discouraged Americans leave labor force WASHINGTON (AP) — After a full year of fruitless job hunting, Natasha Baebler just gave up. She’d already abandoned hope of getting work in her field, counseling the disabled. But she couldn’t land anything else, either — not even a job interview at a telephone call center. Until she feels confident enough to send out resumes again, she’ll get by on food stamps and disability checks from Social Security and live with her parents in St. Louis. ...

US delays missile test as tensions riseWASHINGTON (AP) — Amid mounting tensions with North Korea, the Pentagon has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that had been planned for next week at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a senior defense official told The Associated Press on Saturday. The official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to put off the long-planned Minuteman 3 test until sometime next month because of concerns the launch could be misinter...

’At fertilization’ declaration gives some pause TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A phrase declaring that life begins “at fertilization” tucked into new abortion legislation in Kansas is creating concern among abortion rights advocates that the wording will inspire new attempts to prevent the procedure. Supporters of the measure said the language is no more than a statement of principle — similar to those found in several states, including neighboring Missouri — rather than an attempt to prevent any preg...

All about immigration: Green cards? Citizenship? WASHINGTON (AP) — This may be the year Congress decides what to do about the millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. And this may be the week when a bipartisan group of senators makes public details of the overhaul plan it has been negotiating for months. But what will that be? Why now? And who are all these immigrants, once you get past the big round numbers? A big dose of facts, figures and other information to help understand th...

North Korea aggression could strengthen US-China bond WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea’s latest outburst of nuclear and military threats has given the U.S. a rare opportunity to build bridges with China — a potential silver lining to the simmering crisis that could revitalize the Obama administration’s flagging policy pivot to Asia. The architect of the administration’s Asia policy described a subtle change in Chinese thinking as a result of Pyongyang’s recent nuclear tests, rocket launches and aban...